What is real? Conveniently part three.

Love, Kindness, Discernment, Freedom.

If you look really closely, i mean, really, impartially, without judgment, you might come to this conclusion, there is a certain fine line, between the illusion and that which is real. Of course the illusion must sustain itself on something, so it borrows or even steals something real, and rewrites our reality. It's been going on, well, not forever, but close enough. It becomes the fabric of our lives and we believe it, fight for it, die for it.

Here's a little personal story. I never really had any friends in school. I think my schoolmates might have been sorry for me, so from time to time, in between the bullying, they'd "let me in". And as much as i wished to be with the cool kids (or any kids), from the outside i could pierce through the games being played, in the foreground of reality. In a sense, i wasn't very interested in being part of the play. Then i grew up a little, and the role-plays and the games, got more advanced. I could see how difficult it was to discern between what was actually going on and the script. Even for me. Of course, i was never popular, and i didn’t care much, that was my reality. And it gave me space to see clearly.

I had the luxury of observing, even that which i didn’t like to see. The framework i was brought up in, was twofold and they often contradicted each other. The stories that dictated the life i was living differed one from the other, depending on if i was at home, or outside my home. A reality for many young adults, especially girls brought up in two cultures. (That's sort of a different post).

The stories were held hard and rigidly, on both sides. And to function, i had to knowingly play along, it was sort of make-believe, with the fact that i could get in trouble if i didn’t play correctly, according to the rules. Sometimes, i had breathing space, i could choose to stand outside of it, i still do. So i've been, through life, educated to questions the so called truths i've been subjected to, and the truths of the world. I realized that the truth depends on the interest and the position of the storyteller. It’s not our fault that we've been so caught up in much that is unreal. We need to get our heads out of our asses. We’re so often convinced we have the truth, our own personal truth, we all have those. Ironically, they keeps us far from reality. So what's really real? I'm experimenting. Could there be a shift within, as we look deeply into this? Let me give you an example of how i'm working with this. "Family" - is a social construct, an idea, but the connection is real.

The experience, is real. Emotional and physical.

Human beings are real. Pain is real. Suffering is real, however optional. Love is real, marriage is a made up story. Wonder is real. That sense of awe. Tears are real - when someone is hurt, that’s real. Sexual attraction is real. Laughter is real.

Climate change is real. The fall of forests and melting of glaciers, are real. The sounds of the frogs outside my window and the frogs - real. The extinction of wild species is real.

The distance between any given spaces, is real, it's the speed in which we travel that is relative.

The inexplicable, is real. Oh yes now we’re going esoteric. It’s so real, it can’t be describe.

The Earth is real, the threats we face are real, the ignorance is real. Money is a story. We're all dying, that is real. We are alive, that is real too.

Smog and pollution are real, because it’s hard to breathe in it. Breath is real. The "beating" of your heart is real. As well as your enemy's. Animals are real, and their bond to their offspring is real. Their pain is real. The meat on your plate, is really dead animal who had emotions and feared its death. The night sky, is almost real, really history. The experience of a Body is real, the body is real, not the stories we tell ourselves about it, or that others tell us about it.

Words aren't real. But that which they attempt to represent in the world, is. The smoke in your lungs is real, and it can really kill you.

Placebos, are real. Kindness, when authentic, is real.

The effects of what we are doing, in any given situation are real.

The fungus living off the tree and creating the wide root system, are real.

Relationship, is real.

We need to appreciate what’s real, and not merely the stories. Start asking questions, looking deeply into what we believe, and how these beliefs assist us, if they at all do so. And most importantly, how they effect Life. Might we need to change them, to meet the real needs of the Earth and of each other?

It doesn’t matter what intentions one has. THE THOUGHT DOES NOT COUNT. The thought is not real. But one’s actions are. Yourself is not real, so if that could be put away, we can attend to the situation, and actually do what needs to be done. A window, just might open for us to practice compassion.